Synopsis

More and more employees are having to sit psychometric tests as part of the interviewing process. On paper, a person's skills and experience may perfectly fit the job description, but the employer also wants to know things about the individual's personality: for example, their weak and strong points; whether they will fit in with the department; whether they can retain information quickly; and whether they have management potential or whether they will always require supervision.

This book is designed to help the individual master taking psychometric tests, and help them decide, before applying for a job, what their individual personality type is - extrovert, emotional, creative or assertive. Working through the tests will give the reader the ability to improve their skills in the key areas of lateral thinking, problem solving, and intelligence, and the book also provides a guide to assessing performance.

• Familiarity with the type of questions set in psychometric tests will give readers an idea of what to expect, and will help them relax in a test situation

• Authors are experts in psychometric and IQ testing and have written over 94 books on all types of tests

• More and more employers are using psychometric testing at interview - including government, education, industry, armed forces and commerce. There is a real need for this type of book to guide the potential employee through the structure of psychometric tests Ken Russell and Philip Carter first met in 1984 through their membership of Enigmasig, a special interest group within British Mensa devoted to the setting and solving of puzzles. They published their first book as joint authors in 1987 and with the publication of this series will have over 100 titles to their credit ranging from quizzes, IQ testing and puzzles.

Excerpt

Psychometric tests have existed since the beginning of the 20th century. In the past 25–30 years they have been brought into widespread use in industry because of the need of employers to ensure that they place the right people in the right job from the outset. One of the main reasons for this is the high cost of errors, including the need to re-advertise and interview new applicants, and reinvestment in training.

The British Psychological Society defines a psychometric test as: 'an instrument designed to produce a quantitive assessment of some psychological attribute or attributes'.

The use of psychometric testing in selection is now well established, and it can be used to provide objective information about different areas of candidates' skills, for example, the extent of their knowledge, motivations, personality and potential.

The two main types of psychometric tests used are personality questionnaires and aptitude tests.

Personality refers to the patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour that are unique to every one of us, and these are the characteristics that distinguish us from other people. Our personality implies the predictability of how we are likely to act or react under different circumstances.

In reality, of course, nothing is that simple and our reactions to situations are never so predictable. In many ways, the word personality defies a simple definition, so broad is its usage.